Box office report card: What passed, what failed in theaters

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
The summer had its share of overachievers and a handful of underperformers, but they all added up to a surprisingly strong performance. USA TODAY offers Hollywood a summer report card.

•Robert Downey Jr.

•Grade: A

Summers don't get much sweeter for stars than the one Downey enjoyed. He kicked off the season with Iron Man, which was the second highest-grossing film with $317.6 million, then closed the season with Tropic Thunder, which has rolled up $86.6 million and has been No. 1 for three straight weekends. He'll follow that with The Soloist, out Nov. 21.

"I usually don't like to work this much," he said after Thunder wrapped shooting in March. "But I didn't think I could turn down any of these roles. Still, I'm beat. I'm going to take a nice break."
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•Costumed adventurers

•Grade: A-

Every superhero is supposed to have a weakness, but apparently that doesn't apply when they safeguard Hollywood. Comic-book characters and superheroes raked in nearly $1.4 billion over the summer, from The Dark Knight's $504.7 million to Wanted's surprising $134 million. "These movies are being done as seriously as any drama," says Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios, which had Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in the top 10. "It's not enough to do something just for the fans. We're trying to make movies that would be remembered by the academy."

The only minor blemish was the $85 million Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which took in $75.4 million.

•The Not-So-Over-the-Hill Gang

•Grade: B+

Whoever said summer was for teenage moviegoers didn't bother telling Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep and the women of Sex and the City. All of these 40-plus actors anchored summer blockbusters: Ford's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($315.3 million), Sex and the City ($152.4 million) and Streep's Mamma Mia! ($132.9 million) met or bested predictions, largely by drawing older moviegoers.

"I think we're seeing people who don't always go to movies saying 'If you make something for us, we'll show up,' " says Nikki Rocco of Universal Pictures, which released Mamma Mia!

•Pull-my-finger humor

•Grade: B

There were plenty of juvenile jokes for summer film fans, from the grade-school kids buying weed by the handful in Pineapple Express ($80.9 million) to Will Ferrell of Step Brothers ($98.2 million) playing the drums with his privates to Adam Sandler seducing senior citizens in You Don't Mess With the Zohan ($99.7 million) — all from Sony Pictures.

Not that moviegoers didn't show some restraint: They all but ignored the potty humor of Mike Myers' The Love Guru ($32.2 million). "Taste in Hollywood moves on a pendulum," says Media By Numbers' Paul Dergarabedian. "And right now, politically incorrect is very PC."

•Cartoons

•Grade: B

When it comes to animated movies, it looks as if you get what you pay for. Though the pricey digital cartoons WALL·E ($218.3 million) and Kung Fu Panda ($213 million) delivered at the box office, on-the-cheap animated films Space Chimps ($28.5 million) and Clone Wars ($30.4 million) didn't dazzle the kids.

•'The Office' alums

•Grade: B-

Making the jump from small screen to big is never easy, but the employees of Dunder Mifflin made a respectable transition. Though assailed by critics, Steve Carell's Get Smart took in a healthy $128.3 million. Craig Robinson, who plays warehouse worker Darryl Philbin, landed a sizeable role in Pineapple Express ($80.9 million). But Rainn Wilson, who plays the unforgettable Dwight Schrute on the show, found no love in theaters as The Rocker tanked at $5.9 million.

•The heroes of 1999

•Grade: C

No one ruled theaters that year like George Lucas, M. Night Shyamalan and Andy and Larry Wachowski. Lucas' Star Wars: Episode 1 was the biggest film of 1999 with $431.1 million. Shyamalan had one of the greatest big-studio debuts with The Sixth Sense, which was No. 2 with $293.5 million. And the Wachowski brothers introduced us to The Matrix, which raked in $171.5 million.

This summer was much less kind as Lucas' The Clone Wars ($30.4 million), Shyamalan's The Happening ($64.4 million) and the Wachowskis' Speed Racer ($43.9 million) had more people shaking their heads than standing in line.

•The final frontier

•Grade: D+

Movies that pushed the outer limits ended up finding theaters vast — and largely empty. In addition to Clone Wars and Space Chimps, there was the alien Eddie Murphy in Meet Dave ($11.7 million) and, with a more supernatural twist, The X-Files: I Want to Believe ($20.8 million).